Trinity troupe offers world-class dance

ALBANY â€¦ The 13 young women of the Trinity Irish Dance Company needed no red carpets, evening gowns or golden statuettes to sparkle and shine Sunday evening for the benefit of some 500 step dance fans who eschewed the 80th annual Oscar ceremonies in favor of the company’s performance at The Egg.

Founded by the English-born American Mark Howard, the company is an outgrowth of the prestigious Trinity Academy of Irish Dance based in Chicago and Milwaukee â€¦ and it’s no stranger to awards ceremonies or Hollywood. The troupe won the gold medal for the United States at the 1998 World Championships of Irish Dance, and appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in 1991, performing a dance created and named for the legendary host.

Despite its American roots, this company is the real thing. Like Irish whiskey, Irish dancing has the biggest kick (pun fully intended) when it’s served straight up, which is why Trinity is so much more satisfying than spectacles like “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance” (the equivalent of sugary umbrella drinks). Without dry ice, dozens of costume changes or fancy backdrops, Trinity preserves the purity and power of the form.

The company’s speed, precision and spirit â€¦ and Howard’s fluid choreography â€¦ were showcased in classical Irish dance pieces like “Step About,” “Johnny” (Carson’s piece), “Just Shannon,” “Blackthorn” and “The Dawn.” Tapping, kicking and prancing, the dancers make intricate patterns, moving from lines to circles to pairs. Garrett Coleman, the lone male in the group, struts his stuff in “Treble Jig,” performed in “jig shoes,” the precursor to American tap shoes.

The company also mixes it up with attempts â€¦ with varying success â€¦ at crossing Irish dance with other forms. “The Mist” begins like a modern dance piece, with the dancers on the floor, legs waving upside-down in slow motion. Sean Curran’s “Goddess” (the only work on the program not choreographed by Howard) looks at first like Irish dance dressed up with Indian-style costumes and music (by Sheila Chandra), but turns into a true fusion as it goes on, with lovely arm and head movements inspired by Indian Kathak dance.

The most impressive trinity on stage was made up of the three musicians, who accompanied the dancers and performed solo and ensemble interludes. Percussionist Barret Harvey played some sizzling drums; Christopher Layer created a wild, haunting sound on flute that calls up images of desolate Irish moors; and guitarist and vocalist Brendan O’Shea performed the kind of soulful folk music that would be perfect on the soundtrack of an Academy Award-winning independent film.

Tresca Weinstein, a local freelance writer, is a regular contributor to the Times Union.